My name is Nada Gad, and I'm a first-generation student working for a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing. I come from a low-income family and learned the value of hard work, creativity, and being connected at a young age. I attribute these lived values to both my academic journey and my desire to put my professional career to work to create positive change in the world. My first exposure in the production booth at my church made me nervous. In front of me were three robotic CR-N700 cameras, a shading control panel, and a crew counting on me to tape a worship service that would be heard not just by the people seated in the pews but by hundreds of viewers who were going online. Sunday morning, I discovered that my role was about more than technicalities. It was about linking individuals to their faith, wherever they were. I have taken on more responsibility in the past seven years of volunteering at my church as part of the production team. My responsibilities included shading control panel operation, color and exposure adjustments for consistency, and smooth following of the pastor during sermons to set stable, well-framed shots. I also coordinated dynamic coverage of worship songs, with seamless transitions that inspired. In working with the production team, I helped achieve quality live streams and recordings that optimized the experience for both in-venue and online viewers. This experience was capable of imparting me with discipline, focus, and cooperation. Beyond the technical training, it also instilled me with a sense of purpose. I gained knowledge that being in my church was not about lights and cameras, but it was about providing people with opportunities to worship, grow, and be part of society. For homebound members, visitors, and new viewers who might be searching for a spiritual community, these shows were a vital point of connection. To know I was contributing to that has been truly rewarding. It also made me feel compelled to be involved at my church beyond Sunday mornings. One such example is covering the opening of Parsons Paw Park, a dog park located at the Parsons House senior living community in Dallas. I provided my photo coverage to capture the celebration, which celebrated the new facility for seniors and their pets. The experience was a reminder service comes in various forms. Sometimes it is sharing your knowledge, sometimes being innovative to help bring connection and joy to others. Whether in community or church, I have learned that I can utilize my skills to change people's lives. All of these experiences have changed my opinions and my future vision. I have directly perceived the ripple effect of service born of faith when it impacts lives, both practically and profoundly. My long-term experience in church production had shown me how even unglamorous roles can bring about change, and my service activity in the community has taught me how people with compassion and creativity can bring people and groups together. With me as I pursue more education are seven years of church work and community involvement. I would like to keep utilizing my capacity to create places where individuals are noticed, linked, and loved. Whether through media, business, or social action, my work for my faith and my service will continue to be a guide. My experience with the church did not just equip me with technical skills. It equipped me with a solid foundation of leadership, service, and compassion that I'll carry on to serve others in my community for years to come.

My first exposure in the production booth at my church made me nervous. In front of me were three robotic CR-N700 cameras, a shading control panel, and a crew counting on me to tape a worship service that would be heard not just by the people seated in the pews but by hundreds of viewers who were going online. Sunday morning, I discovered that my role was about more than technicalities. It was about linking individuals to their spirituality, wherever they were. I have taken on more responsibility in the past seven years of volunteering at my church as part of the production team. I worked robotic camera systems and live broadcast production for worship services such that every service could be broadcast professionally and with care. My responsibilities included shading control panel operation, color and exposure adjustments for consistency, and smooth following of the pastor during sermons to set stable, well-framed shots. I also coordinated dynamic coverage of worship songs, with seamless transitions that inspired. In working with the production team, I helped achieve quality live streams and recordings that optimized the experience for both in-venue and online viewers. This experience was capable of imparting me with discipline, focus, and cooperation. Beyond the technical training, it also instilled me with a sense of purpose. I gained knowledge that being in my church was not about lights and cameras, but it was about providing people with opportunities to worship, grow, and be part of society. For homebound members, visitors, and new viewers who might be searching for a spiritual community, these shows were a vital point of connection. To know I was contributing to that has been truly rewarding. It also made me feel compelled to be involved at my church beyond Sunday mornings. One such example is covering the opening of Parsons Paw Park, a dog park located at the Parsons House senior living community in Dallas. I provided my photo coverage to capture the celebration, which celebrated the new facility for seniors and their pets. The experience was a reminder service comes in various forms. Sometimes it is sharing your knowledge, sometimes being innovative to help bring connection and joy to others. Whether in community or church, I have learned that I can utilize my skills to change people's lives. All of these experiences have changed my opinions and my future vision. I have directly perceived the ripple effect of service born of faith when it impacts lives, both practically and profoundly. My long-term experience in church production had shown me how even unglamorous roles can bring about change, and my service activity in the community has taught me how people with compassion and creativity can bring people and groups together. With me as I pursue more education are seven years of church work and community involvement. I would like to keep utilizing my capacity to create places where individuals are noticed, linked, and loved. Whether through media, business, or social action, my work for my faith and my service will continue to be a guide. That is, my experience with the church did not just equip me with technical skills. It equipped me with a solid foundation of leadership, service, and compassion that I will carry on to serve others in my community for years to come.

My marketing career goal is driven by personal experiences and passion for establishing relationships with individuals. I have had an interest in how companies build relationships with consumers since childhood. Over time, I understood that marketing is not merely the sale of a product, but building trust, understanding needs, and delivering value. These principles became real to me through experiential learning within sales and through creating my own business. One of the initial lessons I learned in sales professionally was from my retail work, where I was able to enroll six customers in credit cards. Some may see this as merely a number, but to me, it is proof of how important communication and assertiveness are when building relationships.I learned how to listen for client challenges, focus my explanation to interest them, and present possibilities in a more organic and less forced way. It was during these moments, that I began to understand that if I want to gain someone's trust I have to first get them on the same page at a human level. At the same time, I started my own photography business, called Glimpse by Nada Gad, and that taught me even more about marketing. As a small business owner, I get to oversee the entire process including taking good pictures, editing well, communicating with clients, and most importantly marketing myself to potential clients. I quickly figured out that people are not paying for a photo shoot, they are paying for an experience, a story and a promise that I can help them document their life. It was from this experience that I learned the art and science of making marketing materials, marketing myself on social media, and developing relationships of trust with clients that lends itself to word of mouth advertising and future business. Doing business has taught me that marketing is not only a skill, but a mindset. Every touchpoint is an opportunity to create value, every campaign an opportunity to share a story, and every client relationship built on trust. I'm driven by the understanding that good marketing has the power to transform the world, whether it is helping a family hold memories through images, or helping a business reach its message to the entire world. What I am most motivated by in this career option is the combination of strategy and artistry. I enjoy the challenge of finding new ways of reaching individuals and testing what works and what doesn't. Marketing enables me to be both a problem-solver and an artist. It is this interaction that motivates me and encourages me to study for a business degree with a marketing concentration. Neal Hartl's background inspires me because, like him, I want to be known for how I connect with individuals. Sales and marketing are not careers, they are methods of assistance. Marketing and sales are simply the act of giving someone something, that helps them do something or helps make their life just a little better. I have a base from my years of retailing and start-up businesses. My education will help round-out these skills and I will ultimately become an expert in the field. In the future I hope to launch a career in corporate marketing in the cosmetics and fashion industries, since representation and stories are vital. I want to put imagination, diversity, and honesty into every campaign that I launch. I hope to expand on the things that I've already learned about building trust, conveying messages, and serving others. To me, getting into marketing means doing something greater than career success, it means utilizing my skills to create lasting connections.

My name is Nada Gad, and I'm a first-generation student working for a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing at the University of Oklahoma. I come from a low-income family and learned the value of hard work, creativity, and being connected at a young age. I attribute these lived values to both my academic journey and my desire to put my professional career to work to create positive change in the world. Among the most rewarding things that I have done to contribute to my community is through my volunteer service at the Parsons Paw Park opening of the Parsons House senior living community in Dallas. As a photographer, I volunteered to document the important events on the day that residents and their friends came to celebrate the new park. This was never just a ribbon cutting; it was a connection and delight and value of community where people & animals exist together. To be there in that moment reminded me that small acts of service, whether through a donation of time, or a donation of unique talents can have huge impact on the lives of others. Apart from my volunteer work, I have also decided to take up my passion for stories and creativity, through my photography business, Glimpse by Nada Gad. Through photography I have been able to create stories for those I photograph, create a meaningful, physical representation of important moments, and connect community. I have spent many years coming to know images as a form of advocacy, even as a source of inspiration, and I want to take that passion forward into my professional development in marketing. My future aspiration is to marry creativity and purpose. I want to build a career in corporate marketing in the fashion and beauty industry, where storytelling and representation are strong drivers. As a BIPOC woman, I know how much representation matters; no one can tell you how important valuable perspectives matter. I would be happy to partner with brands to communicate their stories through the lens of marketing campaigns - forming a pathway for people and communities to have greater views to more inclusive spaces. I aspire for my career to be shaped, so that I can continue championing not-for-profit organizations, identify grassroots movement and productive local initiatives (such as Parsons Paw Park) that foster inclusive people and build forever legacies. This scholarship would allow me to remain at school with fewer economic burdens and focus more effort on creating opportunities for others. I understand the significance of scholarship funds because I have witnessed many students, including myself, struggle to equate tuition costs with their desires. By financing my education, you are not just donating to my schooling, you are donating to my work to help other people in my profession. As I move forward, I hope to be known as both a successful entrepreneur, but a woman that identified and put those skills to use to bring people together, create change for the better, and help others feel valued and recognised. I hope to keep up the tradition of service and storytelling that I have been given through my family, by my service to my community, and in my other experiences like as the marketing and photography for the Parsons Paw Park opening event.I have been taught that change starts with individuals who are willing to use their skills to benefit others. This is an mentality that I want to take with me in everything I do professionally, while using imagination and empathy to help create a better world.

I grew up in a household where economic insecurity was not only an occasional problem, but a lifestyle. My sole mother worked countless hours at multiple jobs in order to keep our family's needs met. Witnessing her struggle on without cessation and in spite of defeat inculcated me with the virtue of perseverance early on. Instead of being spoiled with stability and riches, I learned to value each dollar and each second because I knew how easily they could be gone. Having grown up in a poor family also shaped how I viewed the outside world beyond my home. I had realized that a majority of families like mine are struggling in some form. That could be as result of discrimination, poverty or just simply feeling their situation was absolutely out of their control. There were many times that other students had privileges where I was not able to benefit, for example having their fancy club memberships, being able to use advanced technology-it is easy to feel behind. However, that just pushed me to work harder, to see education as my way out, and to envision a future where my situation would not determine who I would be. The values that I possess here today are founded on those initial years. I learned empathy for others since I understand what it is not to have anything. I learned grit since giving up was never a plan where I was raised. And I learned inspiration from my mother's sacrifices, which instilled in me goals that go beyond myself. For example, I have volunteered occasionally in community functions because I would like to give back to families who also go through struggles like mine. Those values have influenced the choices that I have made from my level of education to how I spend my free time. My life goals have broadened from this set of values. Learning about business and marketing to combine art and strategy in a way that will eventually create opportunities for marginalized communities through my career. I'm a BIPOC college student, so I understand the lack of representation in fields like business, tech, and art. My hope is to not only create a successful career for myself, but to also create an avenue for others, through mentoring, nonprofit partnerships, or sharing stories that elevate diverse communities. This scholarship would eliminate financial constraints in the way of these goals. Like most low-income students, I have a lot to juggle balancing school full-time, work and a home life. Although I am proud of the resiliency that this builds, I appreciate that any way to receive help would allow me to focus more on studying instead of bordering on surviving. This opportunity would allow me to invest much more time into studing and the community, so that I can continue to resiliency, compassion, and commitment that come from my upbringing. Simply put, growing up poor has not limited me, it has created an individual that relies on struggle as motivation to keep striving. It has given me my core values that ground me today and the core values of my goals to shoot for. I have the belief to prove to others that where you start in life does not determine where you finish, and I want to utilize this education to create opportunities for myself and for others that have a similar background to mine.

I've really been trying to invest in a camera lens for my photography business, but they're really expensive.

One of the most meaningful experiences of my life was my volunteer service at my local church on the live production team, where I played a significant role serving to support community events and religious services. My journey began during a very challenging point in my life. I experienced personal battles and difficulties; immigrating, lack of financial stability, abuse in my home, and bullying. While I navigated through these experiences, I spoke to someone I trusted at my church. She was a fantastic mentor, and the way she reacted with grace and compassion motivated me to take my pain and to do something productive with it. I was tremendously moved at witnessing people like this before; Serving others with free will and full purpose. It was equally moving to see the positive impact they had in other people's lives, whether that was just serving their congregation in comfort, or facilitating well designed and moving, seamless experiences through multiple types of worship methods. I wanted to be part of that same purposeful work, so I enlisted in my church's live production team. I operated three remote controlled robotic cameras, and assisted in shading all live production cameras so our congregation was receiving the best lighting and image quality in real time for all of our various worship experiences, events, and outreach programming. In addition to that, I also volunteered in Sunday school, taking care of children aged 0-4. It was just overwhelming at the start. The extensive technical knowledge required, the conduct of real-time equipment during events, and working under high-pressure situations had been serious challenges to overcome. I got very valuable lessons about persistence and the qualities of leadership through those challenges. Each hurdle taught me that clear communication should be paramount; being flexible and staying calm or acting on the spur of the moment are all integral to proper service delivery and leadership. Seeing my contributions make a difference motivated me to continue. Every single service, event, or outreach offered me a shining opportunity to see that I gave back to my community. This became my inspiration and spark of excitement for capturing moments of living beauty and genuine connection, and my drive to create a photography business of my own. One profound occasion is when I was entrusted to document the baptismal ceremony. The emotions written all over the faces of not only the family but the congregation reminded me that every story is sacrosanct. Most importantly, it was a way to stay engaged in my community while concurrently building meaningful and impactful social connections. How it changed me was about changing my views around leadership and service. I learned that leadership, humility, and empathy mean one does not really lead for recognition, but allows others to become leaders. I kept repeating the same worship service five times a week, and still I experienced joy and felt something inside me about worship every single time it happened. That was how I came to feel the same emotions with such consistency and faithfulness in the same experience. That made me even more sure of the fact that service is not about doing or accomplishing tasks but about walking out my faith with compassion. To this day, the way I practice service remains an evolution. What I have been interested in for a long time is community development, mental and physical health awareness, and how to tell inspiring stories through photography! I have learned that no matter the size of the service, it always leads to inspiration, healing, or empowerment. Those are the lessons in service and faith.

As a potential new entrant to this world of mental health. I've lived a life that tells a story of years of abuse, extreme bullying, immigration, poverty, and living with endometriosis. All of which were incredibly difficult obstacles for me to face in my life, and all of which have shaped my perspective on the world in various ways. After moving to Egypt at age 4, I found myself in a corner of the world where I was truly lost and confused and struggled with language and lost in translation. Financial challenges soon became constant as my parents worked long hours of labor—my mother waking up before dawn to toil in a bakery, making cakes, and my father taking the graveyard shift at a car dealership. Coupled with these stresses, the abuse at home further compounded my emotional issues even more. Long-term abuse had a residual impact of shattered trust and worth. The cultural tensions, isolation, and chaos created toxic communication and a bent sense of acceptance. At first, my idea of relationships was limited to the notion that acceptance was gained through silence and compliance, and suffered. I was just a little girl, and in addition to my abusive home, I experienced bullying through name-calling, racism, and exclusion. The continuous shaming and rejection obliterated any sense of self I had, and I relegated my thoughts and feelings down to a level where suicidal ideation normalized. That's when I reached a breaking point. I took a step and reached out to a person at my church and, as I shared my experience, I got the relief and understanding that I had been yearning for. I made a decision at that moment to start healing and also get connected in the community. Following that turning point, I went and served others in the church by being in the live production team. This community service project gave me space to think about my passions and why I was pulled to visual storytelling, and eventually gave me the courage to start a photography business. Community and my photography project are what educated me on the importance of vulnerability, trust, and healthy boundaries. From my own traumas, I was able to heal and shift from believing connection, compassion, empathy, and resilience were not to the values I wanted to have at the forefront of my life. I've learned to be vulnerable with my adversity and vulnerability, has unlocked connections and support systems through my friends and family. I have enjoyed taking photos of people with my company and being able to capture their unique beauty and candidness has broadened my relationships with others. It has brought greater joy and pleasure into my life and shifted my mindset from that of isolation and aloneness to seeing my life as a communal experience. Where I now have a responsibility to be there for others and develop quality relationships based on understanding, creativity, and trust. In terms of my academics, I have achieved a GPA of 3.5 while being involved in extracurricular activities, volunteering and working two part-time jobs. My academics and activities have greatly strengthened my time management and organizational skills. As for my professional journey, I have had so many opportunities that nurture my curiosity and passionate interest to pursue a career to help those who are struggling in a real and significant way. I would say that the influence of my mental health experience has been directional in my life. It has enabled me to rearrange the way I frame adversity into a purposeful commitment to empathy, advocacy, and forming deep and meaningful relationships

Immigrating from Egypt at age four meant uprooting my entire world. My parents arrived in the U.S. with little more than hope and a few suitcases, determined to build a better future. My mother baked cakes and macarons before dawn at a local bakery, while my father worked nights at a car dealership for a low wage. When he saved enough, he taught himself IT from library books and eventually launched his own small company. Financial strain became our normal: sometimes we skipped small comforts so bills could be paid. Their example taught me that resilience, determination, and a willingness to learn can turn any obstacle into opportunity. By high school, I was determined to ease our financial burden and honor my parents’ sacrifices. At sixteen, I launched my own photography company 'Glimpse by Gad'. I spent weeks teaching myself HTML and web design in my bedroom, then invested my savings in a basic camera. Weekends became a cycle of shooting portrait sessions, editing images into the early hours, and then waking early to study for honors and dual-credit courses. When a single mother confided that my rates were beyond her budget yet her children “needed these memories,” I offered her a discount. Her grateful tears reminded me why I began: creativity can uplift others when resources are scarce. Academically, I maintained honor-roll grades and earned journalism awards—Best of SNO Publication twice and TAJE Excellent in Feature Writing, plus a UIL Honorable Mention—while working two part-time jobs (retail associate and campus tutor) and volunteering on my university’s crisis hotline, where I helped over sixty peers secure emergency housing or counseling. Each late-night study session and every community call reinforced that perseverance is not the absence of struggle but the choice to keep moving forward. My experiences as an immigrant have shaped my values and my work ethic: empathy, service and innovation. I am currently pursuing a marketing path of study, because it combines creativity and strategy—two pieces of my identity that I have relied on for as long as I can remember. My focus is to work for a social enterprise that concentrates efforts on expanding access to arts education in under-resourced communities. This may mean helping a school secure a grant, or running marketing campaigns for student entrepreneurs, or mentoring them as they grow. Young people are often disillusioned and unaware of the opportunities they might be missing out on behind barriers holding them back from their success. I want to teach them (along with my colleague artists from diverse art forms) to express themselves through photography, video, and design - ways to tell their own story while positioning themselves for the opportunity ahead. In addition to that, my plan is to eventually build my own multimedia agency, providing access to affordable photography, videography, and marketing for organizations focused on mental health, food insecurity, and youth empowerment. The agency will help nonprofits prepare for fundraising events, develop documentaries, or simply raise awareness around their cause to advance their mission, generate sustainable revenue, and deepen community involvement. In carrying on my parents' legacy, I have taken the highest challenges of my life and made them opportunities for those who are in need. My immigrant experience taught me that roots and resilience ensure dreams can thrive anywhere. With my parents’ sacrifices and my own journey of adaptation, I believe creativity, strategy, and service will allow me to build a more equitable future—for myself and for the communities I serve.

Life has not been easy, yet I’ve learned that true success is measured by resilience and service. Growing up as a first-generation immigrant from Egypt, I endured childhood trauma at my father’s hands without knowing it was abuse. For years, I believed I deserved every harsh word and blow. At eleven, when I recognized the violence for what it was, I sought help from a trusted teacher and my church’s youth pastor. Volunteering in Sunday school—teaching lessons on kindness and respect—helped me confront my past and showed me that resilience begins when you refuse to let hardship define you. Financial struggle compounded my turmoil. My parents arrived in the U.S. with little more than a few suitcases and their resolve. My mother baked cakes and macarons at a bakery before dawn, and my father worked nights at a car dealership for a low wage until he taught himself IT from library books. Inspired by their perseverance, I launched Glimpse by Gad Photography in my junior year of high school. I spent weeks teaching myself HTML and design to build a website from my bedroom. I invested my savings in a basic camera and practiced portrait techniques late into the night. That venture did more than fund my own expenses; it offered affordable family portraits to neighbors on tight budgets, including a single mother whose gratitude reminded me why I began: “Your photos gave my children memories to hold onto,” she said. Academically, I refused to let hardship derail me. I maintained honor-roll grades in honors and dual-credit courses, earning Best of SNO Publication twice and TAJE Excellent in Feature Writing, plus a UIL Honorable Mention in Feature Writing. Balancing schoolwork with two part-time jobs—retail associate and campus tutor—and volunteering on my university’s crisis hotline taught me extraordinary time management. Every weekend, I shot portrait sessions, edited client galleries until 2 a.m., and woke early to study for finals. When my “to-do” list reached a dozen tasks—volunteering at church live production (12–16 hours/week), tutoring peers, logging hotline hours—I reminded myself that perseverance is not the absence of struggle but the will to keep going. As a Pell Grant recipient, I often wondered if I was doing too much. Yet each time I neared burnout, resilience became my well to draw from. My commitment to community service has been unwavering. For eight years, I ran live production for weekend worship services by managing audio and video, training new volunteers, and ensuring every family could focus on fellowship without technical glitches. On the crisis hotline, I answered calls from peers in distress, helping over sixty students secure emergency housing, counseling appointments, or simply a listening ear. As a campus tutor, I guided fellow first-generation students through marketing projects, helping them build confidence and academic skills. Through these experiences, I learned that true success is not just surviving hardship but using what I’ve learned to help others do the same. My photography business not only funded my college expenses but also enabled families to capture treasured memories; my journalism awards revealed my ability to research, interview, and write under pressure; and my service positions illustrated my commitment to community uplift. Each day as a marketing major with a 3.5 GPA, I carry forward the Algers’ legacy of service and sacrifice by merging entrepreneurship, creativity, and community. Whether teaching a child to have self-confidence, supporting a student in crisis, or capturing a family’s joy through my camera, I believe that when we face adversity with resilience and reach out to help those in need, we turn challenges into opportunities—for ourselves and for everyone around us.

We immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt when I was four, driven by my parents’ hope for a better future. Leaving behind extended family and familiar customs, my mother, father, and I arrived with little more than two suitcases and our resolve. My mother and father spoke Arabic but they had just enough English to get by. Every day felt like a lesson in adaptation—new schools, new friends, and a new language. Yet amid the unfamiliar, my parents taught me that our cultural traditions, family unity, and perseverance would guide us forward. Life in America brought constant challenges. My mother took any bakery job she could find, baking cakes and macarons before dawn, then rushing home to cook meals for us. My father worked nights at a car dealership for a low wage that barely covered rent. We sometimes sacrificed small comforts so bills would be paid. Despite fatigue and frustration, my parents never allowed despair to define us. Their unwavering determination kept us going: my mother perfected recipes for local bake sales, and my father studied IT textbooks borrowed from the public library. Together, they showed me that hardship is temporary when met with hard work. Their perseverance taught me that no matter how unfamiliar the world feels, hard work and unity can transform obstacles into opportunities. My parents hard work and determination made me want to join them! By the beginning of my junior year in high school, I started a very small photography business—creating a website in my bedroom, learning HTML and design through tutorials, and holding portrait sessions for friends. My mother used her bakng skills to start her own bakery, creating traditional arabic desserts and macarons for local events. My father took his lessons from the library and created and IT company managing networks and fixing computers for small businesses. Seeing them both take jobs and create successful businesses, taught me firsthand how creativity and effort can turn a dream into reality. Their example shaped my career aspirations. As I studied Marketing in college, I combined their lessons—my mother’s artistry in baking, my father’s technical problem-solving, and my own vision for storytelling through photography. I maintained honor-roll grades, qualified for the Pell Grant, worked part-time in retail, volunteered eight years in live production at my church, and helped 60+ students in my university’s crisis hotline. My next step is to work for a social enterprise that increases educational access by helping underfunded schools write grants, run marketing campaigns, and coach student entrepreneurs. With that experience, my goal is to start a multimedia agency that provides affordable photography, videography, and marketing services to organizations addressing mental health, food insecurity, and youth empowerment. I will host fundraisers, film documentaries, and manage awareness campaigns on behalf of nonprofits looking to promote their missions, secure ongoing funding, and establish relationships within the community. My family's transition from being immigrants, to my mother's bakery, to my father's IT business taught me that roots, resilience, and tireless effort can turn any obstacle into an opportunity. Their experience has influenced my perspective of the world. I consider every skill I learn, every small act of kindness, and every creative idea to be of value because they have the potential to elevate one another. It is their history and legacy I hold onto as I determine to create opportunities for others as they have created opportunities for me.

Establishing and maintaining my small photography business while balancing work, school, and community service has been my biggest accomplishment to date. Being raised by a low-income immigrant family, I saw my parents struggle to provide for us. I knew that attending college would give me the best opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. However, I also knew I had to help in any way I could financially. When I turned 16, I spent several months in my room creating my own website. Countless hours learning HTML, principles of design, and outreach to potential clients while struggling to put together a business, and gain supporters. My mental attitude and determination ultimately led me to deplete my meager savings on a basic camera, and practice, practice, practice. I spent hours honing my craft—learning lighting styles via YouTube, self-teaching in photo-editing software until the wee hours of the night. I also offered my friends free portraits to learn as much as I could from each shot. By the spring of my senior year of high school, I had turned my love for photography into a business of sorts. I offered affordable portraits for families with small budgets using a selection of affordable portrait packages and advertised it by mounting flyers on community bulletin board and through my social media pages. One afternoon in October, I photographed the reunion of an extended family that had hired me. The single mother who hired me for this job told me in confidence that the cost of the portrait packages I offered I was above what was in her budget, but she didn't want her kids to grow up not having family photos. I offered her a discount, and later, when she received their images, she clutched the framed images to her chest and told me that her children would cherish them long after she was gone. That moment gave life to my to start this small business. At the same time, I managed to keep honor-roll grades while navigating difficult honors and dual-credit courses, received Pell Grant funding in college, worked part-time as both a associate in retail, volunteered over the span of eight years in live production, and worked on my university crisis hotline - I helped over sixty people in an emergency and directed resources for them. It definitely wasn't easy to balance all of this. I would spend almost every weekend shooting sessions and editing photos until 2 AM, only to be awake again early in the morning to prepare for finals on Monday. My daily “to-do” lists would often reach twelve items long: Updating client galleries, restocking inventory, volunteering at church, studying for an upcoming test, and logging hours at my crisis hotline. I asked myself more than once if I was doing too much, but every time I was close to burning out, I had to remind myself that perseverance is not the absence of struggle but rather the ability to continue. Once we demonstrate resilience we create a reserve in which we can draw from for our most trying moments. The transformation of my photography business into a consistent influx of bookings from random sessions of friends showed the hustle and flexibility it takes to succeed. There were important lessons I took away: negotiating with clients effectively, taking constructive criticism in stride without self doubt, and knowing when to stop working and take care of myself. I also learned the value of empathy. When clients tell me about getting married, having a baby, graduating, etc., I realized I was not just part of the cookie-cutter experience of pulling a trigger on the camera but was participating in their "once-in-a-lifetime" stories. I learned that I'm capable, tenacious, and driven. I’ve seen how passion can benefit others and support my family. I want to develop a career based on creativity, entrepreneurship, and service. I am currently studying marketing and my intention is to work for a social enterprise or nonprofit that increases access to education supporting underfunded schools in acquiring grants, completing advertising campaigns, mentoring students interested in entrepreneurship, and creating programs. Ultimately, I want to develop a multimedia agency providing affordable photography, video, and marketing services to organizations addressing violence, mental health, and youth empowerment. My agency will provide nonprofit opportunities to promote their missions and keep supporters engaged through fundraisers, documentaries, and awareness campaigns.

I experienced the same trauma from my father, the forced use of words and blows, and for years I thought I deserved it. When I finally acknowledged violence, I contacted a trusted teacher and the youth pastor of my church. I stepped outside of that abuse, opened myself to move forward. After I complete a bachelor’s degree in Marketing, I'll have the skills and tools to develop pathways for people. With the communication opportunities coupled with my own experiences, I'm going to raise awareness, connect survivors with life-altering services, and change how our community responds to intimate partner violence (IPV). Breaking the silence is the first step in reducing IPV. Too many survivors stay hidden because they don’t recognize the signs or fear judgment. My classes have taught me how to create stories that resonate emotionally and prompt action. I will use these skills to develop multi-channel awareness campaigns—short video testimonials, social-media infographics, community presentations, and spoken-word events—that highlight diverse survivor experiences. Partnering with local shelters, mental-health organizations, and university student groups, I’ll ensure each narrative includes clear calls to action: hotlines to call, safe houses to contact, and legal aid clinics to visit. When people see real survivors speaking authentically, they’re more likely to notice abuse in their lives or a friend’s and take action. Survivors often face obstacles—financial dependence, childcare, or lack of legal status—that make “getting out” feel impossible. To address this, I’ll map community resources—counseling centers, job-training programs, emergency housing, legal clinics. Through user research and A/B testing, I will design a mobile app or website that helps survivors find support based on location, urgency, language preference, and individual circumstances (e.g., pet safety or immigration concerns). I plan to partner with a local nonprofit to pilot this platform and gather feedback from survivors, social workers, and volunteers. With their input, we’ll refine the tool until it truly serves as a lifeline. I want to train the next generation of volunteers, social workers, and community leaders to spot IPV warning signs and intervene compassionately. I’ll create workshops, “Marketing for a Cause”—that teach nonprofit staff and student-volunteers to apply marketing principles (brand messaging, audience segmentation, impact measurement) when promoting IPV prevention programs. By equipping them with skills—running Facebook ad campaigns, writing persuasive grant proposals, or organizing grassroots fundraising events—I’ll help expand their reach, secure sustainable funding, and build a network ready to respond when survivors reach out. On campus, I brought that same spirit of service to our crisis hotline. I trained to answer calls from peers in distress and have helped over sixty people navigate emergencies. From finding temporary housing to scheduling counseling. This experience showed me that timely communication and empathy can save lives. Ultimately, real change requires shifting both individual behavior and attitudes. I'll research how public policy on housing, healthcare, and criminal justice can better protect survivors. I plan to work with local legislators to draft targeted communications—data-driven policy briefs, victim-impact statements, and community testimony videos that outline the social and economic costs of inaction. By combining my narrative with concrete statistics (for example, how reducing IPV lowers healthcare costs and boosts workforce productivity), I hope to influence more funding for shelters, counseling, and legal aid. Partnering with advocacy groups, I’ll organize policy roundtables and public forums to ensure survivors’ voices guide each proposal. Surviving abuse taught me that hope often hinges on a helping hand and a strategic voice. With a Marketing degree, I’ll use that voice to break barriers, build supportive networks, and ensure every survivor knows they are not alone and that a path to safety and healing is within reach.

When I was eleven years old, I realized that what I thought was normal discipline in my home was actually childhood abuse. This realization crashed down on me like a tidal wave: every sharp word spoken to me and every painful blow received from my father was not a deserved punishment - it was trauma. I had been carrying around shame and confusion for years believing that it must be "normal" to receive that treatment. Rather than let that pain be my identity, I chose to take back my story. I found support from a teacher I trusted, sought help from my church's youth pastor, and volunteered in our Sunday school teaching younger children lessons on kindness and respect. Reliving memories was like experiencing scars, but choosing to confront my past instead of being burdened by it provided me with the fortitude to move on. That experience instilled perseverance in me, and I applied that with every challenge I faced in the following years. I took honors courses and worked part time at a café in my hometown, saving for college while still producing decent grades. I even started my own small photography business. I offered sessions at a price that was accessible to families with low budgets. It was challenging studying, working shifts, and taking on clients, but I learned time management, problem solving skills, and how to be a good communicator. On days when I was feeling defeated, I told myself that if I could get through my adolescence, and begin to heal from my childhood, I could certainly complete the to-do list for the day. Next came the act of demonstrating leadership! I spent eight years of my life volunteering in the church’s Sunday school, creating lessons on resilience for elementary students. It was moments like seeing kids who were too shy to stand up in front of their peers, present their project to the whole class, and feel proud of themselves that continued to give me the idea that leadership often meant giving a lift to others, behind the scenes. On weekends, I also spent about 12–16 hours as a video system operator for the church’s worship services, performing jobs adult were certain I was too young for. Instead of resisting the challenge of learning those technical aspects, and even training some people in that responsibility, I learned that effective leadership is very different from authority leadership! It is showing up early, asking questions and preparing others to succeed in doing so. When I arrived at college as a first-generation low-income student, I brought that same spirit of initiative. Although I’m majoring in marketing, I’ve volunteered with our campus’s crisis hotline, training to answer calls from peers in distress—an extension of the resilience lessons I once taught children. I’ve helped over sixty students navigate the challenges of college life, ensuring they feel seen and supported. Surviving abuse, running a business and volunteering thousands of hours are three examples of how I confront obstacles instead of running from them. To me, leadership means showing others that they can overcome their own hardship and helping them achieve their own breakthroughs. If given the honor of being considered for the Jimmy Cardenas Memorial Scholarship, I will prioritize continuing this work. Working with first-generation students, advocating for mental-health resources, using my entrepreneurial experience to create community outreach programs that support projects that help connect and empower people. In recognizing Jimmy Cardenas’s legacy and resilience for service, I will be focused on building a safer, more supportive community; One person, one story, and one act of leadership at a time!

Since I was a child, and from the stories I heard at the knee of my grandmother, I have always carried Palestine. Not as a faraway land on a map, but as a living, breathing pulse in who I am. Take, for example, how my grandmother fled her hometown near Gaza as a young girl with her family in the large wave of families who sought refuge. Despite building a new life in Egypt, she never lost sight of the olive-grove hills and the dried out streets of her youth. I had the privilege, throughout my entire life, to watch her light a candle every night for the family she had left behind, or hear her speak of belonging not to a specific place, but to a people defined by endurance, kindness, and hope. That legacy came into sharper focus when our family traveled to the Egyptian border October 2024. There, we volunteered alongside relief teams—handing out bottled water, blankets, and medical supplies to families making the harrowing crossing from Gaza. I’ll never forget the moment I pressed my palm against the rough concrete of the border wall, feeling an almost electric connection to the land and to people whose struggle for dignity mirrored my grandmother’s stories. Helping mothers shelter their children, guiding elderly men to safe zones—it was the first time I saw how my heritage could spur direct action, turning empathy into tangible support. My Palestinian roots have shaped my sense of purpose and my approach to education. As a marketing major at the University of Oklahoma, I’ve embraced every opportunity to hone my storytelling and strategic-communication skills—tools I plan to wield in service of underrepresented communities. In class projects, I’ve researched how global diaspora networks maintain cultural ties through social platforms; in student-run marketing campaigns, I’ve centered narratives of refugee entrepreneurs to amplify voices too often overlooked. Each assignment reinforced a simple truth: effective messaging can transcend borders, inspire solidarity, and catalyze change. In terms of my future academic goals, I plan to graduate with honors in marketing, along with a minor in international studies. Along the way, I hope to gain internships with humanitarian organizations—learning to develop campaigns that provide both fundraising to support relief work and change the narrative about displaced populations. My ultimate goal is to have my own communications consultancy focused on helping nonprofits working in conflict zones tell authentic stories that inspire action, support policymaking, and create a link for donors to the lived experiences of our partners. The Fakhri Ali Abukhater Memorial Scholarship will mean more to me than just financial support; it will be a connection to my grandmother, a connection to my story. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to deepen my skills in digital storytelling, attend conferences focused on refugee advocacy and social responsibility, and have the opportunity for a summer internship in either Amman or Istanbul-- to see how marketing strategies positively impact displaced people first-hand. I carry forward a greater mission embedded in my heritage as a Palestinian: to develop narratives of other people's struggles into our shared experience, to ensure that every account of struggle contains the promise of hope and renewal as well. In keeping with Fakhri's spirit of curiosity, perseverance, and compassion, as I advance in my studies, I will develop those same qualities as a generous member of a global society.

From the moment I helped organize my high school’s Black Student Union—the first club I joined as a freshman—I understood the power of community to spark change. For two years, I served as BSU’s communications officer, writing newsletters and authoring an in-depth feature article for the school paper that highlighted our cultural heritage events and mentorship programs. That article inspired dozens of underclassmen to attend our meetings, and enrollment grew by 40% in a single semester. Through BSU, I co-founded a weekend “STEM Explorers” workshop for middle-school students, pairing club members with local engineers and data scientists to lead hands-on experiments in coding, circuits, and environmental testing. Over three semesters, we reached more than 120 students—many of whom had never held a soldering iron or launched a basic Python script before—and 80% reported increased interest in pursuing STEM subjects at their own schools. My journey as a first-generation Egyptian immigrant has been deeply shaped by my family’s emphasis on education and service. My parents left Cairo in search of greater opportunities, and from a young age I saw how their sacrifices fueled my own access to quality schools. At home, we spoke Arabic as much as English; our dinner conversations often turned to engineering challenges in Cairo or traditional farming techniques back in Al Khalifa wal Moqattam. That blend of Egyptian resourcefulness and American innovation instilled in me a passion for problem-solving—whether designing a cost-effective water filtration prototype in my Environmental Science class or troubleshooting the code for our “STEM Explorers” website. Outside BSU, I volunteered for two summers with the local science museum’s outreach team, helping run “Solar Science Sundays” for neighborhoods with limited access to hands-on STEM labs. We taught basic principles of solar energy using DIY panels I assembled, and I mentored a small cohort of young girls who went on to win their district science fair with a solar-powered irrigation model. Each success reaffirmed my belief that representation matters: when children see someone who looks like them teaching circuitry or discussing hydrology, the “impossible” suddenly feels possible. Receiving the Dr. Soronnadi Nnaji Legacy Scholarship would profoundly impact both my education and my STEM aspirations. It would allow me to take on a full-time research internship in water-resource modeling this summer—an opportunity I currently must decline because I need to work part-time to cover tuition. That internship would equip me with advanced GIS and hydrologic simulation skills, directly building on Dr. Nnaji’s pioneering work in water resources. With those tools, I aim to develop community-scale flood-prediction models for underserved neighborhoods in Houston, where I hope to collaborate with local nonprofits to build early-warning systems. In honoring Dr. Nnaji’s legacy of academic excellence, cultural pride, and servant leadership, this scholarship will empower me to deepen my technical expertise, expand my community initiatives, and blaze a path for the next generation of African immigrants in STEM—just as he did.

From the very beginning of my childhood, I learned that worth is not something you are given but something you earn through grit, creativity, and determination to serve. As a first-generation immigrant born to low-come parents, I saw my parents work hard for a better life. They showed me that dreams take an action to get them to become reality, which is why each day since, I have worked to prove that I am worthy of mine. I started my own photography business in high school, and took something I enjoyed doing (storytelling) and offered it as a service to help me pay for college and to take care of my family. Initially, I was just capturing special moments for my friends; fast forward to now, where I conduct affordable portrait sessions for underserved families and donate my mini-shoots to local nonprofits. I use photography to recognize the dignity each person holds and to remind each of them that they too are worth being captured. In parallel, I have poured my energy into volunteer service. For eight years I’ve guided children in Sunday school, crafting lessons that teach kindness and confidence. Each weekend, I dedicate 12–16 hours running audio and video for worship services—roles that demand technical skill, teamwork, and unwavering commitment. Whether smoothing a cable behind the scenes or helping a shy child stage-fright overcome, I strive to create environments where everyone feels valued and empowered. As a marketing major now, I combine all these experiences into one vision: to create campaigns that raise voices that often go unheard. My entrepreneurial instincts taught me how to nurture relationships, manage projects from inception to completion, and go through iterations until it was perfect. My volunteer experiences taught me empathy, patience, and the self-belief that each person's story matters, and together, I have the skills to create marketing campaigns that drive engagement, action and inclusivity. I am worth the goals and dreams I have set for myself because I have already turned despair and disadvantage into opportunity. I have shown time and time again that with drive, commitment and a generous heart, I can continue to move myself forward while lifting others up as well. The This Woman's Worth Scholarship would allow me to broaden my outreach- so I can increase my expertise, increase the reach of my services and inspire more women to pursue their dreams and aspirations without using apologies. The legacy of Dr. Porterʻs mission and purpose and the mission of the This Woman's Worth Foundation, exists to prove to women that once a woman knows her worth, she is unstoppable and when she is unstoppable- she lights the way for all those who are around her.

I am a first‐generation immigrant, and the first person in my family to attend college, a privilege I have earned through resilience, creativity, and a strong belief that education can create change in one's life. I come from a low‐income background and applied for a Pell Grant, started my own photography business to help pay for tuition, and worked multiple part‐time jobs. All of these experiences have reminded me how to change challenges into possibilities and rekindled my love for marketing in which storytelling and strategy meet to solve real‐world problems. This Jorian Kuran Harris (Shugg) Helping Heart Foundation Scholarship would be life‐changing for me. Not having to worry about picking up extra shifts and focusing more of my time to my studies, internships, and community‐based projects would be a weight off of my shoulders. Each free day spent towards professional development (certificates in digital marketing tools, attending industry events, specialized software) would allow me to graduate not just with theory but actual technical experience in areas employers want. My long-term plan is to lead marketing campaigns for mission-driven organizations that support underserved communities. I want to create a boutique agency that offers branding and digital campaigns that are low-cost for nonprofits, groups for first-generation students, and small businesses in under-invested neighborhoods. By leveraging data and authentic storytelling, I will support these organizations in maximizing their impact, whether it's raising donations for scholarships, promoting youth-mentorship programs, or raising awareness about social services for locals. However, my desire to empower others comes from a deeply personal experience. From when I was a young girl, I endured physical and psychological punishments from my father that I thought were "normal." It wasn't until I was a teenager that I understood that I had been abused, and when I realized this, I felt destroyed and very alone. I could not find peace at night, as I fought with the memories of being abused. I could not concentrate with schoolwork, and my fear and confusion led to a lack of clarity and consequently, my complete lack of academic focus. The first steps I took out of that darkness were when I found my voice through service. Reading stories during Sunday School, I helped younger children learn. In some ways, it allowed me to contribute to something that – while not my own children – acknowledged how I felt: as a person with purpose, and not someone defined by pain. I became engulfed in my photography business, using the camera to capture hope and project joy back to families who would not have the means for portraits done professionally. Each time I preserved a family in laughter and smiles - I bestowed small glimpses of hope back to myself. In college, I found mentors, professors, and church members who modeled for me what compassion and resilience looked like. I taught myself marketing analytics at night (which was new to me), as proof to myself that I could develop competencies, despite my self-doubt. As time went on, I switched my self-doubt with academic achievements and entrepreneurial wins. With the Shugg Helping Heart Scholarship, I can scale this work - deepen the expertise, expand the community engagement, and ultimately create more opportunities for others to break the cycle of hardship, just as I have. As a tribute to Jorian Kuran Harris, and his legacy of service and unwavering commitment, I too will pay forward the generous support and uplifting spirit that brought me out of my darkest days and realign the steps for many more people to follow.

As a first‐generation, Black college student majoring in Business Administration with a passion for marketing, I’m committed to using my education to open doors and build supportive bridges for future generations of Black professionals in business. Growing up in a low‐income, immigrant family, I saw firsthand how underrepresentation in leadership can limit both vision and opportunity. Now, through my coursework in organizational management, consumer behavior, and strategic marketing—and by running my own photography business—I’m gaining the tools and real‐world experience needed to create pathways where none existed. In year one, I will partner with our campus’s Black Student Union and career services office to launch a “Leaders Among Us” speaker series. Each month, we’ll invite Black alumni and local executives in finance, marketing, and operations to share their career journeys—demystifying corporate cultures and breaking down the “first‐step” barrier. I’ll apply my marketing skills to design promotional materials, secure social‐media engagement, and capture professional headshots for each guest speaker, ensuring students see relatable role models and gain practical advice on internships, networking, and résumé building. By year two, I plan to work with faculty to pilot an elective workshop titled “Business Foundations for First‐Generation Leaders.” Drawing on my photography business and campus‐tutoring experience, I’ll co‐develop hands‐on modules—on topics like pitch development, basic financial modeling, and digital branding—that blend theory with live case studies. I’ll recruit upper‐class “peer coaches,” training them to facilitate small‐group sessions, critique student projects, and guide participants through mock interviews. This peer‐driven model not only reinforces learning but also fosters a culture of mutual support that extends well beyond the classroom. In my junior and senior years, I will leverage the Entrepreneurial Council’s network to negotiate structured internship pipelines with midsize firms that value diversity. I’ll use data from my marketing analytics courses to craft compelling proposals—highlighting the talent, retention, and innovation benefits of hiring Black interns and entry‐level associates. Through targeted outreach and tailored branding efforts, I’ll help establish summer‐to‐full‐time conversion programs that include mentorship pairings, project rotations, and leadership training—ensuring that Black students not only enter the field but also thrive and advance into decision‐making roles. Beyond graduation, I envision launching a nonprofit fellowship that awards micro‐grants, coaching, and networking events to early‐career Black professionals in business. Drawing on my marketing expertise, I’ll develop an annual “Impact Report” showcasing success stories, equity metrics, and best practices—advocating with corporations and universities for policy changes that lower barriers to entry and advancement. By combining strategic marketing, peer‐driven coaching, and corporate partnerships, I will use my Business Administration degree to build a clear, supportive path for Black students—from their very first campus event to boardroom leadership. This scholarship will equip me to accelerate these initiatives, ensuring that the next generation of Black business leaders sees both the opportunity and the roadmap to achieve it.

I’ve always believed that great service begins with thoughtful communication and as a marketing major and photographer who built a small business from the ground up, I know firsthand how powerful a well-told story can be. Thanks to the FLIK Hospitality Group funded scholarship, I will spend the next five years transforming resource efficiency into an engaging movement uniting guests, associates, and local partners around simple, measurable actions that add up to real impact. In years one and two, I will launch “Every Choice Counts,” a 60-second video series produced through my photography venture. Each episode will feature a frontline FLIK associate describing one easy action opting to reuse linens, requesting a right-sized portion, or choosing an e-receipt and revealing the collective results of those choices. These clips will run on in-venue screens, social feeds, and the employee newsletter, always ending with a QR code that directs viewers to a live Impact Tracker website. By publishing clear monthly metrics such as “12,000 fewer disposables used last month” I aim to boost guest and associate participation by at least 20% within the first year. Building on that momentum in years two through four, I will introduce an “Impact Scoreboard” microsite where teams can monitor real-time data on waste diverted, energy saved, and water conserved at each location. We’ll guide departments through monthly challenges like “Portion Precision” or “Lights-Out Hour” and reward top performers with team lunches or FLIK-branded gear. Weekly emails and social-media spotlights, featuring my on-site photographs and brief interviews, will celebrate milestones and humanize the data. By the end of year four, I project a 25% reduction in single-use items and a 15% decrease in energy consumption, driven by friendly competition and public recognition. In the final phase (years four and five), I will extend FLIK’s influence beyond its own venues by developing co-branded toolkits; including posters, email templates, and concise “how-to” videos that local schools, community centers, and partner cafés can adapt. Through targeted digital ads and sponsored social posts, we’ll invite these organizations to join quarterly “Serve & Share” events, where surplus ingredients and reusable serviceware are collected and redistributed. An annual “Collective Impact Report,” illustrated with engaging photography and participant testimonials, will and continue to demonstrate how small actions by many can drive community-wide change. At its core, marketing is the bridge between awareness and action. My coursework in consumer behavior, brand strategy, and analytics combined with hands-on experience crafting campaigns for my photography clients has taught me how to translate complex goals into relatable narratives that inspire measurable outcomes. With the support of the FLIK Hospitality Group scholarship, I will refine these initiatives, deepen their reach, and prove that “great food and great service” go hand in hand with responsible stewardship. Together, we will transform everyday choices into a lasting legacy of positive change one guest, one associate, and one community at a time.

From the age of four until I was eleven, I believed the harsh punishments and hurtful words I endured from my father were simply a normal part of growing up. It wasn’t until my latee teenage years that I recognized what I’d experienced was abuse—a betrayal of trust from the one person I thought should protect me. Even now, when I close my eyes at night, I can feel the sting of those memories: the sharp reprimands, the sudden blows, the confusion of punishments that never fit any “crime.” I have chosen to forgive my father, but our relationship remains severed; I mourn the man he might have become, even as I recognize that healing sometimes requires distance. That childhood trauma ignited within me the fierce desire that no one woman shall suffer alone or in silence, or that no child shall ever again understand violence as love. Long before I understood where it came from, I turned that fierce desire into passion- by volunteering with church youth groups, conflict groups at schools as a mentor, and creating a support circle on campus focused on sharing resources and encouraging survivors. Every story I learned further proved how pain normalized in isolation, and how healing can begin with merely listening to one another. I’m currently earning a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, which has given me the skills to create messages that resonate, inspire consumers to action, and raise awareness in the community. In my courses around consumer relations, digital strategy, and brand management, I have been able to research audiences, understand how to discuss delicate topics with empathy, and develop multi-channel campaigns. I am able to leverage my marketing skills to dismantle stigma and direct survivors to culturally relevant resources. Leveraging this expertise, I plan to collaborate with domestic-violence shelters and nonprofit organizations to create clear communication paths—so that when an African American woman speaks, every subsequent professional (social workers and legal advocates) follows up with responsibility, consistency, and compassion. I will create bilingual public-health campaigns using social media, local radio, and faith-based organizations, to send targeted messages like: “You are not alone. We see you. Help is here.” By collaborating directly with survivors and community leaders, I’ll ensure these outreach efforts speak in real voices about real options: safety planning, counseling, and peer support. Ultimately, my goal is to create a wrap-around advocacy center that connects crisis intervention with career workshops, parenting programs, and peer-mentorship programs (with the intention of empowering women, not just after they leave a relationship or escape their addiction). My lived experience makes me empathetic; my education in marketing gives me tools to harness pain, and convert that pain into purpose. With this scholarship help, I will solidify the care, coordination and communication infrastructure that saves lives to honor Linda Hicks and to light the path out of dark place for the next person.

When I walked through the doors of my church for the first time as a curious nine-year-old, I learned that community is not just a group of people, but it can be a sense of hope, a sense of purpose, and a sense of shared possibility. Growing up in a first-generation immigrant family of low-income, in Texas I frequently grappled with the hard realities of uncertainty. Yet every Sunday morning, I showed up with a litany of volunteers, teachers, and worship spiritual dreamers who reinforced my belief in something larger than what I could see for myself. Their belief taught me that by lifting one another, we all could rise together - and it prompted me to pass on their spirit of encouragement. One way I’ve contributed to my community is through eight years of service in my church’s Sunday school and weekend production team. Each Saturday and Sunday, I dedicated 12–16 hours to running audio, video, and lighting for worship services—roles that many assumed were beyond my years. Learning those technical skills wasn’t just about operating equipment; it was about creating an atmosphere where families could gather, find comfort, and reconnect with one another. Behind the scenes, I made sure every microphone was clear, every video clip cued at the right moment, and each hymn felt alive. In the classrooms, I led preschool and elementary lessons on resilience—using simple crafts and stories to teach children that their unique voices matter. Watching shy kids light up when they realized they could succeed taught me that small acts of service can spark big changes in how people see themselves. Outside of my church context, I've developed a photography business that mixes creativity and community value. One way I do this is by offering affordable portrait sessions with families who would not be able hire a photographer for professional family photos. I also donate mini sessions to nonprofits every year to help them share their stories, recognize volunteers, and highlight the people they support. The look of pride on mothers' faces when they receive a family portrait, or the excitement for a nonprofit director to share images stemming from a successful fundraiser, sustains my belief that art has the potential to strengthen relationships and promote hope. Each of these experiences has encouraged my vision for the future because they have shown me that resilience and human goodness are contagious. Whether it is through mentoring a first-grader in Sunday school, or even teaching a neighbor how to frame the perfect picture, I know that hope flourishes as we invest time and care into our shared spaces. My community taught me to look beyond my own reality and dream bigger, and I have always reciprocated with a desire to create moments of connection or moments that affirm people that they are seen, worthy, and so much more than they could have conceived for themselves. By receiving the Sweet Hut Bakery & Food Terminal Community Scholarship, I would be enabled to continue performing the types of service that matter the most to me while increasing my service commitment. This would meaningfully free up time for me to increase my photography outreach, advocate for youth programs on my campus, and organize service-learning projects to facilitate student unity to address various localized issues of importance on behalf of range of marginalized communities. It is the kindness I've experienced and the hope I've seen in others that continually invigorates my activism and commitment to building greater, more connected communities wherever I find myself.

As a first-generation immigrant and the first to go to college in my family, I have a story of resilience, creativity, and a strong belief in the changing power of education. I was born into a low-income family, a fact that taught me early on that just having ambition is not enough; you must have ambition with ambition. To keep myself in school, I was all Pell Grant eligible launched a photography business and had multiple part-time jobs. Every time I was paid, I used every dollar I was making on tuition, books, and living expenses. All of those long days working on someone else's dream gave me a crash course in time management, self-reliance, and how to create opportunity from challenge. I'm excited about pursuing a degree in marketing because it merges creative thinking with business strategy, similar to my work building my photography business. Through running portrait sessions and providing event coverage, I have effective developed the ability to tell a story about capturing moments with people from all walks of life. I aim to provide affordable packages to families on a budget, and I even donate an annual mini-session to local non-profits, so everyone has the opportunity to document their moments. It has been a positive experience for my work, which not only improves my detail-oriented eye but also shows me how entrepreneurial interests can benefit underserved areas of the community. I currently have a 3.5 GPA and continue to search for internship opportunities, where I can transfer student-acquired data foundations into real-world challenges that range from social-media data analytics to developing brand collateral. I believe what sets me apart as a candidate for the Mark Green Memorial Scholarship is my track record of hard work, combined with my goal to pay it forward. I've volunteered with my church's Sunday school for the past eight years—teaching lessons on resilience and leading craft activities to promote confidence. I also devoted my weekends to about 12–16 hours solely on audio and video for our worship services. I directed praise teams, sound and video technicians, and learned roles that were assumed to be beyond my age. In the church, I’ve demonstrated that giving back is a service, and in my entrepreneurship, I've shown that background and limited resources do not limit impact. Looking toward the future, I plan to apply my dual understanding of marketing and photography to help first-generation students on campus and beyond. I will work with the university career services and student organizations to develop workshops on how to be successful in college applications and scholarship applications—involving a combination of active branding and high-quality headshots through my business. I will provide my fellow college students with marketing strategy as well as a high-quality portrait to allow them to paint their best self, sell themselves confidently to admission boards and employers . I also plan on developing a mentorship program for college students who want to improve digital literacy and personal branding skills—because it's important that every student can see—and seize—their way forward.

From that first moment, in my childhood church, at the tender age of nine, there began my experience of being fully free as I not only was myself, but also accepted the responsibility of it. As a first generation African American student, I learned how to share my unique voice and talent, and serve it in a way that people may remember for a long time to come. Over the last eight years, I learned from volunteering in our Sunday school classrooms and working on the "Life Production Team," where I made the commitment for 12-16 hours a weekend to help our worship services run smoothly. Through this experience, I learned that when you are real and you are committed to serving, it creates a ripple effect, because people are observing, listening and often will be inspired to follow. What makes me different from others, is my ability to combine my creative side with my compassionate side. I was one of the only teens on our production team, and I was not afraid to ask questions, come up with new ideas or learn how to use complex audio-visual equipment even when the adults around me expected me to remain quiet. My natural inclination for problem-solving altered the energy of our worship services and contributed to the high production value we created. More importantly, it also allowed our younger children and older congregants to see I watch the children file back into their classrooms every Sunday morning. Some children are shy, some are full of energy, but all of them are looking, in their own unique ways, for guidance. I align with the Sunday school teachers, and develop interactive lessons on themes of kindness, resilience, and faith. I would borrow from my real-life experiences--sharing how I was the first in my family to lay eyes on a college campus during my high school years--and prompt the students to think about their unique strengths. By sharing my story, which is full of both stumbles and accomplishments, I made learning personal, and I demonstrated it is important to have courage to tell our stories, because every individual has a unique story worth sharing. While no one handed me a script for merging worship production with children's ministry in a church, I approached both positions with the same level of boldness that I apply to my life. On Saturdays, I would splice sermon footages and mix sound levels; meanwhile, on Sundays, I am leading crafts and conversations with preschoolers. I brought authenticity to both roles, as a leader, unafraid to laugh at my mistakes, to seek help from others, and to celebrate the little things. I potentially inspired someone sitting in the pews. A single mother, watching her child find confidence, or a teenager witnessing another young person break stereotypes, was I have learned my leadership lessons over eight years of service, and what I have learned is that leadership is not about doing everything correctly - leading is showing up completely, and giving others permission to do the same. As I begin my college experience I will remember the resilience, innovation, and community I gained while serving in our church. This scholarship would signify my pursuit of service that is unbiased and authentic—and allow me to continue supporting others—as a part of campus ministries, volunteering as a tutor, and mentoring other first-generation college students.

Since I was twelve years old and became infatuated with a camera, I have been consistently curious, wanting to explore different ways that light, color, and composition can tell a narrative using a single photograph. This thirst for knowledge propelled me from tinkering with DIY reflectors in my bedroom to starting a photography business in high school where I am a self-taught expert in portrait retouching, client engagement, and basic web design to showcase my work. Each skill I learned added to my confidence and reminded me growth occurs where passion and persistence intersect. As a first-generation immigrant I began to understand at a young age how my parents tried to provide the best for me knowing that they sacrificed a lot. With a low-income background, I quickly learned education is a privilege and responsibility. In class, I engaged in as many marketing case studies as I could. I analyzed campaigns from Fortune 500 brands and researched more, independently, emerging trends in consumer behavior. Outside of class, I volunteered in the local library’s digital literacy adult program, where I helped neighbors to make resumes and accounts on the internet. Helping others through technology reinforced that learning is not done in isolation, but is a gift we share to make those around us better. As a first-generation immigrant from a low-income household, I learned quickly that education is both a privilege and a responsibility. On campus, I consumed as much information as I could find in marketing-related case studies—analyzing campaigns from contemporary Fortune 500 brands and delving into the emerging trends in consumer behavior on my own. Off campus, I volunteered with our local public library's digital literacy program to help friends and neighbors learn how to create resumes and emails. I learned through assisting for technology that learning is not something one does alone: learning is a gift we give each other to elevate those around us. Moving forward, I envision a future where the passion I have for learning holds me accountable throughout my career. I plan to find internships with forward-thinking marketing companies, get my certifications in digital strategy, and eventually run my own agency that helps small businesses grow and thrive online. Winning this scholarship would ease my financial burden, and at the same time, allow me to live life fully in honor of Ross Mitchell's legacy which meant overcoming challenges, learning, and inspiring others to view education as the greatest adventure.